A Delayed Flight
by oncerforlifeig
Summary: Detective Swan is stuck in the airport at 2am, anxious to get home. But all that changes when a young woman loses her 4 year old son and needs her help. SQ AU One Shot.


Rain.

Blasted thunderstorm.

That's what's caused my flight to be delayed.

That's the reason why I'm siting in the airport at 2am, tired, hungry and just a tad bit agitated.

There were only about 15 other people who were on my flight, one of which was the cutest little kid, he looked to be about 3 or 4 years old.

I've caught a glimpse of him toddling around with his Cookie Monster backpack, holding onto this woman's hand.

She's his mother, I assume, he has her brunette hair and hazel eyes.

But even his cuteness could keep me from being upset.

I just wanted to get back to New York, _home_, and take a long, hot shower.

I've been in Los Angeles for two days, trying to catch that damn criminal but the bastard got away.

Now I needed to get back home and start from scratch, reviewing all my clues once again.

Being a detective is hard work, regardless of what anyone may think.

I've been sitting with my earphones in my ears, listening to soft music, trying to mellow out and catch at least an ounce of sleep.

I covered myself with my jacket, slanting my body so that my head was propped up against the wall, and I closed my eyes, slowly drifting off.

At least I was until I heard a loud yell, even over the music that was playing.

My eyes jolted open, my body reacting quickly as I looked around for a source of the sound, my earbuds falling out of my ears.

"Henry! Henry where are you?!"

It was her, the lady with the cute son.

She was scanning the room, looking for him.

I ran over to her, "Ma'm what's wrong?" I asked and she looked at me with tear-filled eyes.

"My son! He's gone! I fell asleep for five minutes and when I opened my eyes, he wasn't sitting next to me."

I could hear the panic in her voice, "Alright Miss-"

"Regina. Regina Mills."

"Okay Ms. Mills, I'm Detective Emma Swan and I'm going to help you find your son. I need you to go tell security that he's missing, give them all the details possible about him and I'll start searching for him."

I went back to my bag, grabbing two walkie talkies.

"Here,"

I handed one to her, "if you get to him before I do, let me know."

She nodded, taking it from my hand and turning it on.

I could tell she was trying her best to hold back her tears.

"Thank you Ms. Swan." she said, looking down at the walkie talkie in her hand before running off to the Security booth about 45 feet away.

"_Alright Swan, think. Where would a child run to in an airport._" I thought to myself as I began running down the hall, toward the food court.

I figured maybe he'd have smelled something sweet that he wanted.

Once I reached the first store I slowed down and began looking closely for that Cookie Monster backpack.

"Henry?" I called out as loud as I could.

My focus was interrupted when I heard the static from the walkie talkie, followed by a soft voice, "Detective Swan?"

I held it up to my mouth as I kept walking, "Yes Ms. Mills?"

There was a long pause, "I'm _so_ scared..."

I took a few seconds to find the right words of comfort, "It's going to be alright, I promise. We're going to find Henry and get you both on the flight back to New York."

Another long pause, I imagined she was crying.

Then her voice showed up again, "I hope you're right."

"Why don't you tell me about yourself? Are you guys from here?"

"No. We came here so I could take Henry to Disneyland. We're from New York City."

I faintly grinned as I started walking down another wing of the airport, "That's very sweet, a little vacation. I'm from New York too. What do you do for a living?"

I wanted to keep her mind off negative thoughts, she needed to keep her composure, to know that everything would be alright.

"I'm the mayor's assistant. It's not the easiest job but it pays well so that I can take care of my son. His father passed away about six months ago and it's been hard on him."

I knew what that pain felt like, "I lost my parents at a young age too. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you."

I stopped walking, taking a moment to think about where else a kid might find interesting in an airport.

"You're welcome. Can you remember anything that Henry might've seen earlier that he wanted?"

This was the longest pause yet, I was just about to ask if she was okay when she answered, "The gift shop! He uh, he saw a toy he wanted but I said no!"

I looked up at the signs and saw I close, "I'm close by, I'll run and see."

I dashed down the hall, following the arrows when my eyes fell on that Cookie Monster backpack.

"_Henry!_"

He was standing in the store, playing with a toy.

I pushed down on the button, "I found him. He's here."

I panted, trying to catch my breath.

I went in the store and cautiously approached Henry, "Hey buddy." I smiled sweetly.

He looked up at me from the toy he had in his hands, "Hi Miss."

I crouched down so that I'd be eye level with him, "You know, it's not very safe to run off from your mommy. Luckily I'm a police officer. You really scared her by running off."

He understood what he did was wrong judging by the look on his face.

"Would you like to talk to her?"

He nodded and I handed him the walkie talkie, "Hold down that button and say hello."

He took a second to study it before doing as I instructed, "Mommy?"

She answered immediately, "Henry! Oh my God you're okay?!"

"Yes Mommy. I just wanted the toy."

"Oh sweetheart. Just let the kind detective bring you back to me and we're going to have a long talk."

He knew he was in trouble, "Okay Mommy."

He handed the walkie talkie back to me and held out his hand for me to take, "Let's get you back to your mom, kid."

I grabbed his little hand and led him out the shop and back to the lobby we were orignally in.

It wasn't a short walk either.

"So how old are you?"

I didn't like seeing the frown on his face.

"Four."

I raised both eyebrows, "Four huh? You must be _really_ smart then."

He looked up at me in puzzlement.

"What do you mean?"

I chuckled, "Only a smart kid would know how to quietly sneak off like that and follow the signs to find exactly what he wanted."

Henry cracked a grin and let out a soft giggle, amused at the thought.

When we made it to our lobby, he took off running as soon as he saw his mother, shouting "Mommy!" before he got to her.

She gasped and bent down, holding out her arms for him to run into.

As she picked him up, I noticed a stream of tears falling from each eye.

"Don't be too hard on him, he's sorry he ran off." I spoke softly as I placed a hand on his back.

I was beginning to walk off when she grabbed my hand, pulling me back.

"_Thank you._ Thank you so much for everything."

I could see the sincerity in her eyes, "It was my duty as an officer and good samaritan."

Henry nuzzled into her embrace, resting his head on her shoulder.

"How about I treat you to lunch when we get back home, Detective?"

She finally was able to smile and I couldn't refuse.

"That'd be lovely. I'll give you my number."

I patted my pockets as I looked for a pen and piece of paper or even a business card.

"Just put it in my phone."

She reached into her pocket and handed me her phone, the lockscreen was a picture of her and Henry.

They were the cutest little family.

"Alright."

I returned the smile and saved my number under '_Detective Swan_' before handing it back to her.

"I look forward to it." I mentioned before going and sitting back down, resituating myself to get comfortable again.

I watched as she sat down with Henry still in her arms, it looked like he was tired too.

Just before I attemtped to doze off, my phone buzzed, a text message from an unknown number. I

opened it, _"I hope you like cheeseburgers."_

I glanced up at her and saw her smiling at me, cradling an asleep four year old.

_"I love 'em."_ I replied, saving her number under '_Ms. Mills_' before falling asleep.

It looks like I have something to look forward to when I get back home.


End file.
